I feel

[joechianti]

I have to say that if it weren't for that forum when I first started I might not have continued brewing and would not have ended up where I am now.

I have to agree. I went reading articles and forums all over the internet to learn, but far and away, it was this lowly band of rascals called the Borg that taught me more and better than anyone or anything else. For that I am grateful to this motley crew of rogues. And I'm sad for those newbies at Mr Beer. When I look at the tiny number of questions being asked, I can't help but wonder how many questions go unasked because they don't feel the resources are there to answer them. When there were dozens of experienced brewers constantly hanging out, the questions came with machine gun speed most of the time. Now I just don't know. Maybe newbies don't see that forum as a great waterfall of brewing information now. The momentum is gone into dormancy. I applaud the few guys who are still trying to help the newbies, but the water pressure to keep that fire hose going is all but a trickle now.

[FedoraDave]

@ JoeChianti, who you callin' a "lowly band of rascals" and a "motley crew of rogues"??!!

If it's me, then thanks, man, back atcha!

Seriously, though, I have to agree with those who have praised the OnceBorg for making them the homebrewers they are today. That's me, in spades. I don't know if I'd have progressed as far and as fast as I did were it not for Yankeedag, Kealia, Mashani, Swenocha, and so many others I can't even list. They educated me on using DME, steeping grains, and hops. They encouraged me to try AG. They helped take a lot of the mystery and intimidation out of homebrewing. And they still provide valuable information even now. Everyone is my superior, in that they all know something I don't.

But the best thing is, they offer all the advice and information with a hearty side helping of good humor, camaraderie, and enough wise-assness to make this place the gold mine that it is.

We used to be there. Now we're here. Wherever we are -- -- WE ARE THE BORG!

[Brewbirds]

@ JoeChianti, who you callin' a "lowly band of rascals" and a "motley crew of rogues"??!!

If it's me, then thanks, man, back atcha!

Seriously, though, I have to agree with those who have praised the OnceBorg for making them the homebrewers they are today. That's me, in spades. I don't know if I'd have progressed as far and as fast as I did were it not for Yankeedag, Kealia, Mashani, Swenocha, and so many others I can't even list. They educated me on using DME, steeping grains, and hops. They encouraged me to try AG. They helped take a lot of the mystery and intimidation out of homebrewing. And they still provide valuable information even now. Everyone is my superior, in that they all know something I don't.

But the best thing is, they offer all the advice and information with a hearty side helping of good humor, camaraderie, and enough wise-assness to make this place the gold mine that it is.

We used to be there. Now we're here. Wherever we are -- -- WE ARE THE BORG!

This is where the "can we have an Amen brothers and sisters" should be inserted right here.

Everything Brewbirds learned was from the and this is now our new home; the same kind, generous, experienced brewers are still together and we can only hope the new brewers find their way here where they will be encouraged and treated with respect.

I have seen the other brewing websites and they just don't compare; I don't know how we have been able to keep the snipers and gripers away but I am sure glad we have.

I love you guys...man!

[ssorck]

One of the things that I have found interesting about that whole forum fiasco is that Mr. Beer also owns MrBeerFans.com and has pretty much left that untouched.

Funny thing about that. I had stumbled onto the mrbeerfans site when doing a bit of research on my Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Stout. I read a thread there where one of the guys was trying to figure out how he was gonna do his Xmas Ale which was based off the old Mr Beer Extracts. So I sent him a pm about how the old extracts are now owned by BrewDemon, etc. Well, it turns out if you type BrewDemon in a post or even a PM 'BrewDemon' gets replaced with 'restricted', lol.

[FrozenInTime]

I wondered if they deleted the pm because ppl were talking about brewdemon in messages back and forth. Either way, they had a chance to ride that bull, but instead chose to lay down like a dead skunk.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

It's actually entertaining, in a sad way, to watch how terribly managed it is. I believe the loss of Sam the BrewDemon did more damage to MrBeer than they would ever let on. The buy-out, the failed website......it's all symptomatic of poor management.

[mashani]

I wondered if they deleted the pm because ppl were talking about brewdemon in messages back and forth. Either way, they had a chance to ride that bull, but instead chose to lay down like a dead skunk.

It's one thing to censor the public facing web site. I may not find it personally acceptable, but I do understand why a corporation would want to do such a thing.

But censoring PMs is just plain over the line.

[Crazy Climber]

But censoring PMs is just plain over the line.

The bottom line is, it's their hardware being used, even for PM's - and if those message discuss a company that Coopers is involved with in litigation, they would ultimately be responsible for the contents. I think they're just being as cautious as possible. Too cautious? Perhaps it could be viewed that way, but like I said -- it's their system; they can make whatever rules they want.

(Or they can turn the whole thing into a useless piece of garbage....oh wait, they already did that.)

[FrozenInTime]

But censoring PMs is just plain over the line.

The bottom line is, it's their hardware being used, even for PM's - and if those message discuss a company that Coopers is involved with in litigation, they would ultimately be responsible for the contents. I think they're just being as cautious as possible. Too cautious? Perhaps it could be viewed that way, but like I said -- it's their system; they can make whatever rules they want.

(Or they can turn the whole thing into a useless piece of garbage....oh wait, they already did that.)

Bottom line is, they could have, and did sensor the posts & PMs with the original software they were using. Instead, they changed the software, hence destroying the fan base on that site and drove us away. Several months later, it is still a crappy site and appears it will always be a crappy site, atleast till coopers drives it out of business.